09 February 2005

News from Zambia - 9th February 2005

Greetings from Luanshya!

The Resource Centre has been a hive of activity throughout the last week. Some days people are waiting at the door before we open and often we have to apologetically ask people to leave when we close the doors at the end of the day. The age span goes from early school children to retirees and every period of life in between. February is only one third over and we already have twice as many new students enrolled in the Source of Light program than we had in all of January. We are excited about this ongoing ministry and we continue to be thrilled with its effectiveness even as we near our 7th anniversary in operation. We currently have over 3,250 students and more are coming almost every day. If we had room to expand, we could buy more chairs but we don't so we can't. The owner of a private primary school in Luanshya asked me if he could bring his grade seven students to the library to read. Since he has nearly forty students, he will have to bring them in shifts since we only have room to seat 16 people at one time. Thank you for praying!

We covet your prayers for the need of Sunday School teachers. With John and Sarah so far away, we lost both Sunday School teachers at the same time. Sherry has stepped into the gap but the goal, obviously, is to have local church members stepping into this position of leadership. Please pray that this will become a reality soon.

There has been a lot of sickness in our small congregation. Things like the flu and malaria are common ailments that are usually treated with medication. Other ailments including meningitis are signals of a much more serious physical ailment. It is difficult to watch seemingly healthy people suddenly fail in their health, but this is the scenario in our part of the world. We continue warning our young people about the dangers of being promiscuous, but even watching their parents, aunts and uncles doesn't seem to slow down the spread of HIV/AIDS. We have spoken with several experts in this field in the past two weeks and many are discouraged about the situation. Behavioural change is the only answer in this dilemma and behavioural change can only be accomplished when the heart is regenerated by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Please pray for those who are preaching the gospel, that the message might be heard and lives transformed. We find it astounding that discussions of HIV/AIDS and sexual activity are being held in classes as young as grade four. Often these students are already aware of the "facts of life" because of the living conditions in which they find themselves. As discouraging as it seems, we have not given up and we continue to share the Word of God and to warn people-both in and outside the church that there is a price to pay for ignoring the Word of God. Please pray for this situation.

Life here is sometimes like a roller coaster. We have victories that excite us. We have challenges that startle us, but we know we are not alone. We appreciate your partnership in prayer on our behalf.

In His Service,
Patrick & Sherry